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EMERALD
Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of the Emerald and
do not necessarily represent the opinions of the ASUO or the University.
However, the Emerald does present on this page columnists and letter
writers whose opinions reflect those of our diverse readership and not
those of the Emerald itself.
RON EACHUS, Editor
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
John Anderson Linda Meierjurgen Sally Schlppers
Rick Fitch DougOnyon D. L. Sannichsen
Gil Johnson Mike Russelle Jaqi Thompson
Ron Saylor
RICH JERNSTEDT
Business Manager
DOUG CRICHTON BARBARA STONE
Advertising Manager National Advertising Manager
University of Oregon, Eugene, Tuesday, October 8, 1968 _
Great Loss
To Students
Kester Svendsen was a man whom the Emerald often
disagreed with, but one we never disrespected.
Svendsen, who died of cancer Saturday night, left be
hind a list of credentials long enough to make him a mem
ber of “Who’s Who in America” since 1952. But to students
he was noted for two seemingly conflicting traits: a general
disapproval of student participation in academic decisions,
and a genuine interest in his students.
He doubted the utility of SEARCH and condemned stu
dent activism on campus, and he expressed his feelings
on such subjects articulately and frequently. But in the
classroom, he was an excellent teacher. The keen wit that
stifled many student opponents in debate also needled
many more students to learn.
His is a dying breed of men—classical scholars. Few
men are found now with such a dedication to learning,
and fewer who have learned so much.
Images come to mind of the traditional humanist, the
“well-rounded man.” This he was—a Milton scholar, a
master chess player, a Guggenheim Fellow. We tend to
discredit knowledge of this sort, in preference for “social
awareness.” But then, he was also a leader in the faculty
and a strong and progressive head of the English Depart
ment.
The loss of Kester Svendeson means the loss of a great
name to the University. It also means the loss of a great
teacher, and that’s more important.
Footnote
Toward the end of the last century the growth of industry
was creating the need for a literate working class, and was
shifting hordes of illiterate people from the farms to the
cities, where there were no chores to keep the children oc
cupied all day. Simultaneously, the large cities were being
engulfed by waves of immigration from southern and east
ern Europe. The traditional curriculum obviously was suited
neither to the capacities nor the needs of children from
peasant and frequently alien backgrounds — particularly
with the available teachers. Instruction, as a result, degen
erated into a singsong concert drill and recitation by rote,
and children in droves deserted the schools as irrelevant to
the world in which they lived.
—Charles A. Sllberman in “Crisis in Black and White”
“The Nixon-Agnew Laff in's a comedy show . . . Right? ? ”
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Black Students Making Impact
Editor’s note: The following is the second
and concluding part of an essay by Clyde
DeBerrv and Calvin Harris on Black Power
and Human Rights on College and University
Campuses.”
In the first part of the essay, DeBerry and
Harris discussed the effectiveness of Black
power bases on campus, and the exercise of
such power, in positive or negative terms.
Proposition 4: There are a handful of Black
students on the campuses at Oregon State Uni
versity, the University of Oregon, and Portland
State College. The issue of Black Power and hu
man rights on these campuses is, in this context,
three dimensional.
First, there is the struggle to bring more Black
students to these schools. Second, the curriculum
must be made relevant to the needs, desires and
goals of the Black community. Third, to the ex
tent that an alliance can be built between the
Black students and the broader student move
ment, based on mutually desired goals, the con
cept of student power will have meaning. There
will be no student power movement unless such
an alliance is built. There will be no alliance
until the Black students and the community of
which they are a part have organized an inde
pendent power base, a base which has strong
links between the Black students on campus and
the Black community off campus.
NATIONAL SCALE
On a national scale, the Black student move
ment is making its impact felt on all of the ma
jor college campuses. As Lerone Bennett, Jr.,
points out in his recent article printed in Ebony
Magazine, “Of greater immediate consequence are
the first tentative changes in policy and person
nel.” Largely as a result of the action,” Bennett
went on to say, “or the threat of action by Black
students, the number of Black students, though
still small, has increased and will undoubtedly
increase even more by next fall. New and Black
faculty members, secretaries, building construc
tion workers and laborers, have also been hired.”
“More significantly,” Bennett continued, “there
has been a crucial crack in the White wall of tra
ditional White-oriented curriculum. An Institute
of Black Studies, coordinated by Nathan Hare,
who was discharged from Howard University, has
been initiated by San Francisco State College.”
Much has been said lately about the lack
of discipline among college students as a whole.
They are “irresponsible,” lacking in “moral fi
ber,” so the generation of the A1 Capone’s and the
Baby Face Nelson’s continually preaches. In a
book entitled “The Political Scarcity,” published
in 1962, Myron Weiner addresses himself to this
problem. In many respects, we do not believe that
it is a communications gap that prevents stu
dents and the university structure from having
a meaningful dialogue. Rather, it is the content
of what is being communicated that is at issue.
However, Mr. Weiner makes a partially relevant
observation:
We have tried to suggest that indiscipline
within the universities or colleges reflects a
breakdown in communication between the
University or college authority and the stu
dents . . . The results may be—and thus far
have been—not only to widen the breach be
tween students and authorities, but, more seri
ously, to widen the gap between politics and
public policy in students’ minds—the former
being thought as a futile but exciting outlet for
the personal protest, the latter as the edicts
and actions issuing from an aloof and non
responsive government or University.
The concrete demands by organized student
groups against University and non-University
authorities while often irresponsible in their
initial appearance, are often potentially nego
tiable and manageable. If university authori
ties are able to develop procedures by which
students may present their grievances, univer
sities and colleges will do more than eliminate
indiscipline. They will educate students to rec
ognize the relationship between politics and
public policy, and thereby strengthen the capac
ity of students to function as adults within a
democratic society.
This assumes, among other things, that the
administrators as a group are committed to
building a democratic society. There is the fur
ther assumption that democracy can be maintain
ed as a visible system within the present politi
cal and economic structure. Such assumptions
are, to say the least, open to serious doubt.
The implementation of Black Power may yet
save our democracy and liberate Black people
since it forces our country to come face to face
with many ideological issues. There is yet another
question—what good does it do to struggle for a
recognition of cultural heritage in the absence of
a conscious effort to attain political and economic
power?
In this sense. Black Power as a concept, as a
political movement, is aimed at creating a
power base directed toward social change. It
appears that there are some groups on certain
college campuses that are engaged in an “intel
lectual power process,” rather than a “political
power process.” They are, in short, concerned
with attaining “cultural power” rather than poli
tical power, which is an impossible goal.
MUST HAVE POWER
Actually, no people can maintain their cultural
identity unless they have the political and eco
nomic power to do so. Throughout history, the
oppressing class has always maintained its hold,
first by taking political power away from other
classes in society, and then by demolishing the
cultural identity of the oppressed people.
This is not to suggest that the intellectual
process is separate from or in conflict with poli
tical action. Rather, it is to suggest that such a
process must be action-oriented.
One does not bring about social change by
contemplating his intellectual navel. To us, the
political process evolves into three stages: a)
goal clarification; 2) tactical orientation at each
phase of the struggle; and c) the action itself or
series of actions. Given this historical period, all
of these processes should be occurring simultane
ously.
Black Power, therefore, is a political goal
aimed at bringing about fundamental social
change. The Black student movement, to the ex
tent that it struggles for political power on cam
puses, will play in important and vital role.
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Emerald Editor:
Map Library
Emerald Editor:
The Map Library (now lo
cated in 165 Condon Hall) ex
tends to all faculty and students
a warm welcome. We would also
like to express our thanks to
those thoughtful faculty mem
bers and students who, in re
sponse to our request, have
donated maps to the Map Li
brary.
To those of you who travelled
this summer, on the continent
or abroad. I direct this plea. If
you do not need all those maps
(road maps, city plans, etc.)
which you picked up along the
journey, the Map Library would
certainly welcome them.
We invite you to come to the
Map Library and browse. We
have a large and varied collec
tion and are here to serve you.
Rebecca A. Wilson,
Map Room Librarian
* * *
Review Traffic Laws
Emerald Editor:
I am interested to see that
the ASUO has expressed a con
cern over the hazardous traffic
intersection at the corner of
13th and Agate.
I must commend the students
for the action which the student
organization has taken with re
gard to the situation. In public
ly pointing out that the student
body is concerned over the 12
accidents which have occurred
at the intersection, they are
attempting to encourage t h e
city council to act on either
errecting a four-way stop or
install traffic lights.
One of my concerns as a
candidate for state representa
tive from Lane County is a gen
eral review of Oregon’s traffic
laws. This country’s uprisings
over the war and death toll in
Vietnam should be nothing in
comparison to the public indig
nation which should exist about
the destruction and death which
occurs on the highways and city
streets.
I am concerned about traffic
safety and I am happy to share
that concern with students. I
am happy to have the oppor
tunity to allign myself with stu
dents who are putting forward
reasonable requests.
( Continued on page 7)
"e shall begin the twenty-third General Assembly with a
reading of what’s left of the L’.N. Charter . . ”